RBS and Natwest add TouchID to mobile banking apps

RBS and Natwest customers will be the first of any UK-based bank able to login to their banking app using their fingerprint.

From tomorrow, banking customers with RBS and Natwest with an iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be able to use Apple’s TouchID to log straight in to their banking app. Some aspects of the banking experience, however, such as money transfers, will require customers to go through additional security measures.

If the fingerprint sensor fails three times, the user will have to enter a four-digit pin to access their account.

The move comes in response to feedback from RBS and NatWest customers who asked for the biometric technology to be including in their mobile banking app.

More and more of RBS and NatWest’s customers are using digital technology, the bank said. Nearly 50 per cent of the banks’ 15m customers actively use online banking, with over 3m customers using the mobile app every week. RBS and NatWest have 1.8m active iPhone users who use the app on average 40 times per month.

Over 167,000 of RBS and NatWest’s customers use their mobile banking app between 7am and 8am on their commute to work every day.

“There has been a revolution in banking, as more and more of our customers are using digital technology to bank with us,” said Stuart Haire, RBS and NatWest Direct Bank managing director. “Adding Touch ID to our mobile banking app makes it even easier and more convenient for customers to manage their finances on the move and directly responds to their requests.”

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